Tag: ipo

Webull Prepared to Go Public at $7.3 billion Valuation (SPAC deal) – Xiaomi and Alibaba as Early Investors

The News: Online brokerage Webull is planning to go public via a $7.3 billion merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), after previous initial public offering (IPO) attempts were unsuccessful, partly due to its past crypto offerings.

Details: The New York-based company, which launched its trading platform in the U.S. in 2018, has agreed to merge with SK Growth Opportunities Corp. The company plans to start trading on the Nasdaq in the second half of 2024, giving Webull an estimated enterprise value of roughly $7.3 billion.

Webull’s U.S. CEO, Anthony Denier, stated that the company’s previous attempts to IPO were hindered by its cryptocurrency trading offerings, a practice the SEC has frowned upon. To eliminate this regulatory uncertainty and clear the path for its public listing, Webull sold its crypto asset business in late 2023.

Why SPAC?: Denier explained that the SPAC route provides a more certain valuation upfront compared to a traditional IPO. The blank-check deal is expected to raise approximately $100 million for Webull, which it intends to use for international expansion and new product development.

Webull experienced significant growth during the pandemic, with registered users reaching 20 million worldwide. The company has targeted more active traders than competitors like Robinhood, offering tools for technical analysis.

It’s important to note that this impending public listing occurs as fintechs proceed cautiously due to increased regulatory scrutiny of companies with ties to China. Despite early backing from Chinese tech giants Xiaomi and Alibaba, Denier emphasized that Webull is not majority-owned by Chinese entities.

Zoho Has a Strong Product Portfolio – but No Plans to Go Public Just Yet

Zoho is a privately held software development company that offers a wide range of products for businesses of all sizes. The company was founded in 1996 in India, and it has since grown to become a major player in the software industry.

One of the most notable aspects of Zoho is its extensive product portfolio, which includes solutions for various business functions such as customer relationship management, accounting, human resources, and more. Some of their popular products are CRM, Mail, Office Suite, Creator, and Books.

Zoho CRM, for example, is a comprehensive CRM solution that helps businesses manage their sales, marketing, and customer support activities. Zoho Mail, on the other hand, is a web-based email service that offers a range of features such as calendar, contacts, and tasks.

In addition to its diverse product offering, Zoho is also known for its commitment to customer service and support. The company offers a wide range of resources, including documentation, tutorials, and webinars, to help customers make the most of its products.

Despite its success, Zoho has no plans to go public. According to the CEO, Sridhar Vembu, the company is focused on building a sustainable business model, rather than chasing short-term gains. He believes that going public would pressure the company to focus on meeting quarterly earnings targets, rather than long-term growth.

However, it’s worth noting that this doesn’t mean that Zoho will never go public. The company could change its mind in the future if it feels that going public would be in the best interest of its shareholders.

Coinbase Valued at Over $100 billion – You Have to Be Kidding Me (From $8 billion to $100 billion in a year)

Coinbase is looking to go public very soon and its valuation in the secondary markets has just gone over $100 billion.

Coinbase’s valuation over the years:

  • 2016 — $500M
  • 2017 — $1.6B
  • 2018 — $8B
  • 2020 — $100B

Coinbase reported revenue of $530M for 2019 and $691M for the first nine months in 2020. The company posted a net income of $141M between January-September 2020, up from a loss of $30M in overall 2019. Notably, these numbers don’t include 2021, when the Bitcoin price surged more than 90% YTD.

Asana Files to Go Public via Direct Listing on NYSE – Asana by Numbers!

Asana is one of the world’s most popular project and task management software (we use Asana in our office). A week ago Asana filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange.

Instead of an IPO – Asana has elected to file for a direct listing (which means that they aren’t selling any new shares in the listing only the existing ones).

By the numbers:

  • For the year ending Jan. 31, 2020, Asana had a loss of $118.6 million on $142.6 million in revenue. For the year ending Jan. 31, 2019, it lost $50.9 million on $76.8 million in revenue.
  • The company says it has more than 3.2 million free account users and 75,000 paying customers with a total of 1.2 million paying users across 190 countries.
  • Asana’s biggest shareholders are co-founder and CEO Dustin Moskovitz, Benchmark Capital, Generation Management, and Founders Fund.
  • According to its most recent secondary trades, Asana’s stock traded at a volume-weighted average price of $15.82 in fiscal 2020, $15.98 in Q1 2021, and $17.26 in Q2 2021.

WMG – Warner Music Group Starts Selling Shares on the NASDAQ Today

Warner Music Group is going live on the NASDAQ today. Warner are offering 77 million class A shares at $25 a share. If Warner opens up at $25 per share that means they will have a $12.8 billion valuation.

It’s going to be very interesting to see if investors have an appetite for music companies again.

Underwriters for the new offering include Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs. Ticker symbol will be WMG.

Warner Music Group has an amazing catalogue, but I’m very keen to learn more about their recent investments and what other industries they think they can enter, because doing the old record label model just isn’t going to gain enough growth over the next 20 years.

Will Airbnb IPO on a Public Stock Market Any Time Soon?

Short Answer: NO – I doubt it.

Airbnb was in a good position to IPO at the end of last year, but seemed to push it back. Since then the follow has happened:

  • Coronavirus has all but stopped their business.
  • Combination of debt & equity from Silver Lake, Sixth Street Partners
  • Previously raised $4.6 billion
  • Financial Times reported new $25b valuation last week

Airbnb won’t be seeing the public markets any time soon as they really need to focus when the Coronavirus lockdowns start to exit and the world opens up for business again.